Merissa Becerra

English 10 P
McNamer 1A
5/06/14

FEMINISM

Feminism. Some people think it doesnt exist, doesnt matter or plainly just
dont know what it is. Well ladies, its basically our passage to living any life we
want. Feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights, as
stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The term feminism originated all the
way to the early 1800s. Back in those days, Quakers and the Native American
Cherokee would come across often and the Quakers saw that most of the
Cherokee mothers and women controlled most of the tribals decisions. Cherokee
clan mothers also had the opportunity to choose their chief. Once Quakers saw
this they werent quite fond of it and were constantly trying to persuade the
women to leave the fields and stay home. None the less, it didnt happen.
In more recent times from the late 60s to the 80s there was a vibrant
women's movement in the United States
1
. A lot of women in the last 40 years
prior have fought for their rights, working on reforms and national organizations
for equal rights. The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced to Congress in
1923. Equal Rights Amendment was an amendment to the constitution which

1
Epstein
declared man and women to be equal in all. It was shot down numerous times
until 1972 when it was sent to all states to be ratified.
Feminism is and always will be misunderstood. There are both, women and
men who will argue about whats right or wrong til the death of them but what
will have really mattered is what they did to justify their opinions. For example, a
popular one to many younger boys, sports; football to be in particular. Boys in the
teenage era tend to feel that their masculinity is being threatened. When in
reality, if their urge to play football was so to die for, youd think theyd pay more
attention to try to win the football game than they do to how much having a girl
on the team bothers them? Another example, according to Wendy Kaminar, in
1986 was when work contracts had the condition that female workers could not
get pregnant within the first three years of their job. Deborah Walker a professer
at the Loyola University in California, did not stand for it and partnered up with a
lawyer to fight against the discrimination of women who wanted to bear a child
within an age.
Being a feminist comes with a lot of responsibility. Some girls choose not to
talk much about it but whether or not they do they always have that option and I
feel it is important for them to have that right, (or at least be a bit educated in it)
because what on earth makes one human better than another? All because one
can endure more muscle gain easier? Or because theyre the dominant species?
If women were to open their mind to feminism they would realize that they have
more rights to life than women centuries ago did. And why not take advantage of
that?
Being a women has so many protections to it. No one should be ashamed.
Wilma Mankiller stated that, Despite guarantees of legalized equality between
men and women, this silencing often compromises the possibility of women's full
and active participation in society and their rights as citizens in a democracy.
She has a point, our silence in life and not taking a stand gives men the leverage
to go and do what they please. Why give them that opportunity? How would we
protect ourselves from abusive situations? That there is another reason why
feminist can be so FEMINIST.
Some women often feel like they cant wear certain clothes because theyll
be looked down upon and not by their friends but by their opposite gender. Girls
cant wear clothes freely because somehow in this world people think just
because our skirts were 1 inch away from approving it was okay for a man on the
street to stick his hand up to a womens privacy and violate her. Im pretty sure
we did not give our approval, and nor did our inanimate object of a skirt did.
Feminism is important in a womans life whether she knows it or not. Its
her pride, and its her freedom.


Bibliography.
Byron, John L. "End Sexism." Proceedings. Feb. 1996: 27-31. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014.

Mankiller, Wilma, and others. "Feminism and Feminisms." The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Dec.
1 1998: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014.

Kaminer, Wendy. "Whither Feminism? Feminism's Identity Crisis." Current. Jan. 1994: 4-12. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014.

Epstein, Barbara. "What Happened to the Women's Movement?." Monthly Review. May. 2001: 1-13. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014.

Mankiller, Wilma, and others. "Violence Against Women." The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Dec.
1 1998: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014.

Kaminer, Wendy. "Will Class Trump Gender?." American Prospect. Nov./Dec. 1996: 44-52. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 28 May. 2014